Sealing system for slide out rooms

ABSTRACT

A seal useful in sealing slide out rooms used in recreational vehicles. The seal may be used singularly or in pairs to straddle a wall through which the opening is located. A bulb is attached to the base in a cantilevered manner over the base. The bulb has an outer arcuate portion that is integrally joined to opposing sidewall portions. The sidewall portions extend into an inner wall that defines an enclosed space within the bulb portion. The bulb portion may also have a protrusion that can touch the base. A wiper extends from the base substantially co-linearly to the base and opposite the offsetting member. A locating leg extending from the base is movable between a first position and a second position. The first position has the locating leg perpendicular to the base and the second position places the locating leg parallel to the base.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present utility patent application is a continuation-in-partapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/726,042 filed on May29, 2015 that is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/646,013 filed on Oct. 5, 2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,045,027, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Seals for slide out rooms in recreational vehicles are typicallycumbersome in their use and installation. This is due to severalfactors. First, the openings for slide out rooms are not standard inthat the wall thickness is not always uniform. This often forces the useof many seals to cover various wall thicknesses. It is also possiblethat the walls are not perfectly even in their thickness. Shipping sealsfor slide out rooms can be difficult as well. Having a C-channel tostraddle a recreational vehicle wall near the opening does not usuallyallow such a seal to be bent so it may be coiled for shipping. Thisforces such seals to be shipped in cut lengths. Thus, many seals fordifferent widths may need to have cut lengths shipped. As can easily beimagined, this creates an inventory nightmare.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A seal that is particularly useful in sealing slide out rooms used inrecreational vehicles. The seal may be used singularly or in pairs tostraddle a wall through which the opening is located. The seal has abase that includes an offsetting member. The offsetting member isconnected to a bulb portion. The bulb portion may have its ownoffsetting member that is joined to the offsetting member of the base.Each respective offsetting member is made of the same material as thepart from which it extends. The bulb has an outer arcuate portion thatis integrally joined to opposing sidewall portions. The sidewallportions extend into an inner wall that defines an enclosed space withinthe bulb portion. The bulb portion may also have a protrusion that cantouch the base.

A wiper extends from the base substantially, co-linearly, to the baseand opposite the offsetting member. The wiper has a proximal end and adistal end, with the proximal end being integrally joined to the base. Alocating leg extends perpendicular to the base and has a distal end anda proximal end that is integrally joined to the base. The locating legis movable between a first position and a second position. The firstposition has the locating leg perpendicular to the base and the secondposition places the locating leg parallel to the base.

The present disclosure also relates to an elongate seal that includes abase, a bulb portion being joined to the base and a locating legextending substantially perpendicular to the base and integrally joinedto the base at a proximal end. The locating leg of the seal may alsoinclude a hook extending at an acute angle relative to the locating leg.The seal may also include a neck positioned adjacent the hook whereinthe neck is a portion of the locating leg with a reduced cross sectionto permit the hook to flex toward the locating leg.

The present disclosure also describes a method of installing a sealsystem around a rectangular opening, such as the opening for a slide outroom of a recreational vehicle. The method includes installing a firstlength of an elongate seal along a first surface of the rectangularopening. The seal is installed such that the wiper of the seal extendsfrom the first surface into the rectangular opening. The method may alsoinclude the step of installing a second length of the elongate sealalong a second surface of the rectangular opening. The wiper of thesecond length also is positioned such that it extends into therectangular opening from the second surface. The respective wipers ofthe first and second lengths of the elongate seal overlap at the cornerof the rectangular opening where the first surface and the secondsurfaces intersect. In addition, the bulb of the second length of theseal is flipped up and over the wiper of the first length of the seal.In this manner, a water resistant sealing system is achieved that doesnot require significant additional steps during installation once thefirst and second lengths of the seal are cut at appropriate lengths.

The present disclosure also describes a method of storing, transportingor packaging an elongate seal. The method includes the steps of foldingthe locating leg of the elongate seal from a first position to a secondposition. The elongate seal is configured such that the locating leg ismovable from the first position to the second position by a leg hingelocated oppositely the bulb portion of the seal and adjacent to thebase. The method further includes coiling the elongate seal about aneutral axis corresponding to a line between the base and the locatingleg when the locating leg is in the second position. In this manner alength of the elongate seal can be coiled into a roll that can be easilystored, transported or packaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the seal;

FIG. 1A is a material sample showing low durometer material on the leftand high durometer material on the right;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the seal as taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1indicating high and low durometer areas of the seal;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of the seal like that shown in FIG. 2showing the seal in its second position with the bulb bent away from thebase;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the seal;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the seal as taken along line 4-4 in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a view of two seals as shown in FIG. 1 in their installedposition in an opening in a recreational vehicle wall;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a different embodiment of the seal lackinga protrusion;

FIG. 7 shows the seal in FIG. 6 with the locating leg in its secondposition.

FIG. 8 shows a tapered wiper with flared tip;

FIG. 9 shows a magnified view of the flared tip;

FIG. 10 shows a sectional view of another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a sectional view of the seal of FIG. 10 with a locatingleg in a second position;

FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of the seal installed at a corner;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of another embodiment of a seal of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the seal of FIG. 13 collapsed into anexample shipping position and

FIG. 15 is a view of an embodiment of a seal of the present disclosureinstalled in position on a recreational vehicle wall.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the seal 10 of this invention in perspective. This seal isparticularly useful in the sealing of slide out rooms used inrecreational vehicles, and FIG. 5, shows how the seal 10 is installedfor such a purpose. The seal 10 includes a base 12 that has a firstoffsetting member 14 extending from it to form an L-shape. The base 10is a relatively high durometer material compared to the rest of theseal, and while resilient to some degree it is substantially lessflexible than other parts of the seal 10. The base 12 is made of amaterial of approximately 90 shore A.

The first offsetting member 14 extends perpendicularly from the base 12toward a bulb portion 18. The bulb portion 18 has a second offsettingmember 20 that extends toward the first offsetting member 14 and isintegrally joined with it. The first and second offsetting members'combined length span the distance between the base 12 and bulb portion18. The bulb portion 18 is made of a material that is a lower durometerthan the base 12. The bulb portion 18 and its second offsetting member20 are made of a material that is approximately 35 shore A. The bulbportion 18 has an outer arcuate portion 24 that is joined to opposingsidewalls 26. The sidewalls 26 extend into an inner wall 32. As shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, the bulb portion 18 has a flat inner wall 32 that isparallel to the base 12. The inner wall 32 may also include a protrusion34 as shown in FIG. 4. The embodiment of FIG. 4 has sidewall 26′ beinglonger than the other sidewall 26. Because the sidewall 26′ is longerthan sidewall 26 the protrusion 34 includes an arcuate terminal end 36that transitions integrally into the inner wall 32. In this way, theinner cavity 40 of the bulb portion 18 continues into the protrusion.The use of the same wall thickness in the protrusion 34, sidewalls 26,26′, and inner wall 32 allows the entire bulb portion 18 to be readilydeformable when pressed against the base 12.

A wiper 44 extends co-linearly from the base 12 and is integrally joinedat a proximal end 46. A distal end 49 is cantilevered with respect tothe proximal end 46. The wiper 44 has lateral sides 51 that aresubstantially parallel and the distal end 49 includes a flared tip 50.It is also contemplated that the lateral sides may in some cases not beparallel if non-uniform cross sections are desired. For instance, ataper narrowing toward the distal may be used, as shown in FIG. 8. Asseen in FIG. 4, the flared tip 50 is wider than the rest of the wiper 44and has two arcs 47 that transition into opposing corners 48 that definethe maximum width of the flared tip 50. FIG. 9 shows the corners 48 indetail. The corners can be radiused as shown in FIG. 9 or can be sharpcorners. The end of the flared tip 50 of FIG. 4 is perpendicular to thelateral sides 51. It may be possible that the flared tip 50 is not thewidest part of the wiper 44 and this is shown in FIG. 8. In this case,the wiper 44 tapers toward the distal end 49 until widening at theflared tip 50. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 8 and 9, theflared tip 50 is wider than the portion of the wiper 44 adjacent to thetip. The wiper 44 is made of a lower durometer material than that of thebase 12. The wiper 44 material is approximately 35 shore A hardness. Assuch, even though the wiper 44 and base 12 have roughly the samethickness, the wiper 44 is substantially more flexible than the base 12.The different durometer materials used in the seal 10 are shown in FIG.1A. The hatching shown on the left side in FIG. 1A corresponds to theareas of lower durometer material, and the higher durometer material ofthe base 12 is shown on the right hand side of FIG. 1A. The locations ofthe different materials are shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A. The seal 10 iscoextruded so the transitions between materials are integrally joined.The locations of the lower and higher durometer materials are placed toprovide predictable bending of the seal 10. The offsetting members 14,20 provide a combined distance allowing for the bulb portion 18 to havea first position, shown in FIG. 2, where the inner wall 32 is spacedparallel to the base 12 a distance equal to the combined distance. Theprotrusion 34 in this first position touches the base 12 at its terminalend 36 in this first position. In some cases it may be desirable thatthe combined distance of the offsetting members 14, 20 be greater thanthe protrusion 34 so the terminal end 36 does not touch the base 12 inthe first position. The seal 10 of FIGS. 2 and 2A in its first positioncompletely encloses and covers the base 12. The resiliency of theoffsetting members 14, 20 bias the cantilevered bulb portion 18 into thefirst position shown in FIG. 2. The offsetting members 14, 20 providepredictable bending that allows the bulb portion 18 to be bent into asecond position shown in FIG. 2A. The second offsetting member 20 beingof a softer durometer yields to provide a bendable hinge while the firstoffsetting member 14 does not move. The single connection to the bulbportion 18 to the base through the offsetting members 14, 20 provides asufficient gap between the inner wall 32 and base 12 to accommodatefasteners that may be driven through the base 12.

A locating leg 58 extends perpendicularly with respect to the base 12and is joined with a hinge 60 where the proximal end 46 of the wiper 44joins the base. The entire locating leg 58 is farther from theoffsetting members 14, 20 than the outermost portion of the sidewall 26,26′ nearest the wiper 44. Therefore, the entire bulb portion 18 isbetween the outermost portion of the offsetting members 14, 20 and thesurface of the locating leg 58 facing the offsetting members 14, 20. Thelocating leg 58 is made from the same durometer material as the base ascan be seen by the sectioning in FIGS. 2, 2A, 4, 6 and 7. As shown inFIG. 6 the locating leg 58 is in its first position, perpendicular tothe base 12. The locating leg 58 has a single hinge 60 that consists ofa single thinned section 62 that is on the same side of the leg 58 asthe wiper 44. The thinned section 62 being in that location places thescore that defines the thinned section 62 on the folding side of the leg58 when the leg is folded into its second position shown in FIG. 7. Thesecond position in FIG. 7, in which the leg 58 is folded adjacent to thewiper 44, is particularly important for transportation of the seal 10before it is installed. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the highest durometerportions of the seal, being the base 12 and locating leg 58, are nearlyaligned. This provides a very low moment of inertia with respect to thehigh durometer portions of the seal 10 so that it may be easily bentabout a neutral axis that would correspond to a line between the base 12and locating leg 58 in its second position. Because of the shape of theseal 10 in its second position, it can easily be coiled so that desiredlengths may be cut from a much larger roll of the seal 10.

Installation of the seal 10 in its intended use is shown in FIG. 5. Wall70 is a typical recreational vehicle sidewall that receives a slide outroom that is not shown. The wall 70 has a thickness D1 that can varybetween different manufacturers or different models of recreationalvehicles. The wipers 44 extend inwardly into the opening 71 and rubagainst a sidewall of the slide out room to form a seal. The opening 71includes a transverse surface that extends between an inner surface 75and an outer surface 77. Because of the high friction that may beencountered on the wipers 44, an anti-friction coating may be applied tothe surface near the flared tips 50. The coating is between 0.002 and0.010 inches and has a durometer of 40-90 shore D. The coating is athermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) that has flexibility in spite of itshardness. This will allow the corners 48 of the tip 50 to conform to thesidewall of the slide out room and be resistant to abrasion. In additionto providing a low friction surface, the coating provides a surface thatwill not adhere to the surfaces it contacts. This is an importantproperty for the arcuate portions 24 of the bulb portions 18 because theflanges of the slide out room will be compressed against the arcuateportions 24 then the slide out room is extended or retracted. Duringtimes of extreme heat this could cause lower durometer materials tostick to a flange on the slide out and the coating prevents adhesion ofthe bulb portions 18 to the flanges.

Installation of the seal is done by using adhesive tape 74 to secure theseal 10 in place. A first seal 10′ is installed into the opening 71 withits leg 58 in the first position. The double sided adhesive tape strips74 hold the seal in place as shown in FIG. 5. Additionally, screws maybe driven through the base 12 into wall 70 for additional security inretaining the seal 10′ in its desired location. This is done by bendingthe bulb portion 18 to its second position and then letting the bulbportion 18 snap back into its first position. This will conceal screwsdriven into the base 12. A second seal 10″ is placed oppositely of thefirst seal 10′ so that its leg 58 overlaps the leg 58 of the first seal10′ and its base is pressed against the wall 70. As FIG. 5 shows theseals 10′ and 10″ form a system of sealing that provides two wipers 44,which then form a watertight connection to the wall 70 on both sides aswell as a watertight connection between the overlapping legs 58. Theoverlapping legs 58 of the system allow the seals 10′ and 10″ to conformto many different wall thicknesses D1. Each seal 10′ and 10″ has thesame cross section, thus, it is possible to have a single roll of theseal 10, cut it to the desired length, and use a piece of the same rollfor both sides of the wall 70. The likelihood of a watertight seal forthe slide out room is better with the present system due to thesimplicity of installation and the elimination of confusion that arisesfrom using different fixed width seals for different wall thicknesses.

Also, the coating near distal ends 49 of the wipers 44 reduce frictionagainst the slide out room being sealed. As such, using the seals 10 ofthe present invention allows for using smaller motors to extend andretract the room. The coating on the bulb portions 18 of the seals 10prevents the flanges from sticking and causing actuating motors tostrain, to break the flange from prior art seals. Thus, wear is saved onboth electrical components and mechanical components because suddencurrent surges will not be drawn by overworked motors.

FIG. 10 depicts another embodiment of the seal previously described.FIG. 10 shows seal 110. This seal is also particularly useful in thesealing of a slide out room used in recreational vehicles. Many of thefeatures of seal 110 are similar to those previously described and mayinclude base 112, first offsetting member 114, second offsetting member120, bulb portion, 118, wiper 144, locating leg 158, hinge 160 andflared tip 150. Seal 110, in this embodiment, may also include ridge152, hook 154 and neck 156.

Ridge 152 is a raised section of seal 110 and is configured to run thelength of seal 110 and is located adjacent to terminal end 136 on base112. Ridge 152 advantageously restricts the deflection of bulb portion118 at terminal end 136 toward wiper 148. This restriction creates amore robust seal between mating components that are to be sealed, suchas a slide out room of a recreational vehicle. In this embodiment, ridge152 is a raised protrusion of material with a rounded end. Other shapesand sizes of ridge 152 may also be used.

Seal 110, as depicted in the embodiment of FIG. 10, also includes hook154 and neck 156. Hook 154 is an element of locating leg 158. Hook 154is connected to locating leg 158 at the end of locating leg 158 oppositewiper 144 and base 112. Hook 154, in one example, is approximatelyone-third the length of locating leg 158 and is configured such that itresides at an acute angle with respect to locating leg 158. In thisexample, hook 154 is linear but other shapes, lengths and orientationsof hook 154 can also be used, such as, but not limited to, arcs, curves,or the like. This embodiment of seal 110 also includes neck 156. Neck156 is a portion of locating leg 158 near the point at which hook 154connects to locating leg 158. Neck 156 is the portion of locating leg158 that permits hook 154 to flex relative to locating leg 158. In thisexample, neck 156 is an area of locating leg with a reduced crosssection of material. This reduction in material creates a hinge point atwhich hook 154 can flex such that, when compressed, hook 154 can laysubstantially parallel to locating leg 158. Other configurations of neck156 can also be used such as notches, differing materials or the like solong as hook 154 is permitted to flex relative to locating leg 158.

The embodiment of seal 110 as shown in FIGS. 110 and 110 can beconstructed in similar materials as previously described and becoextruded such that the aforementioned features can be integrallyjoined. Locating leg 158 of seal 110 can also be moved to a secondposition as shown in FIG. 11. In this second position, locating leg 158is located adjacent to wiper 144. In this position, long lengths of seal110 can be coiled. Large coiled lengths of seal 110 can be stored and/ortransported with greater ease.

As previously described, two seals 110 can be used with each other toprovide a sealing system for a slide out room for a recreationalvehicle. Two seals 110 are used on opposite sides of a wall as shown inFIG. 5. However, in this embodiment, instead of adhesive tape 74 onlocating leg 158, hook 154 and neck 156, when compressed in position,provide a water resistant seal system to prevent the intrusion of water.

The seal of the present disclosure also provides an advantageous systemaround a square or rectangular shaped opening, such as the opening inwhich a slide out room moves on a recreational vehicle. Withconventional seals that do not include the elements previouslydescribed, a seal would require modification, cutting or other specialprocessing when the seal is installed at the corners of a rectangularopening. With seal 10, 110, special processing is not required to resultin a water resistant sealing system at the corners of a rectangularopening.

FIG. 12 shows seal 10, 110 installed at a corner of a rectangularopening. At the corner, a vertical length 202 of seal 10, 110 and ahorizontal length 204 of seal 10, 110 are installed on the respectivevertical and horizontal surfaces of the rectangular opening. Theconfiguration of seal 10, 110 permits wiper 44, 144 to overlap at thecorners and the top end 206 of vertical length 202 is substantiallyflush with offsetting member 14, 114 on horizontal length 204. As can beappreciated, bulb portion 18, 118 is flipped up and over wiper 44,144 ofvertical length 202 in this configuration. This arrangement of verticallength 202 and horizontal length 204 creates a robust water resistantsealing system at the corner of the rectangular opening. Such anarrangement only requires an installer to cut the seal to theappropriate length for the rectangular opening and install the lengthsof seal 10, 110 on the vertical and horizontal surfaces. The bulbportion 18, 118 can then be flipped up and over the overlapping portionof wiper 44, 144 at the corners to finish the assembly. As previouslydescribed the bulb portion 18, 118 of vertical length 202 is flipped upand over the wiper 44, 144 of the horizontal length 204. As can beappreciated, the seal can also be installed such that the bulb portion18, 118 of horizontal length 204 can be flipped up and over the wiper44, 144 of vertical length 202. In this configuration, the respectivelengths need to be cut at the appropriate sizes to achieve the ninetydegree flush corner.

FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of a seal of the present disclosure.Bridge seal 134 includes bridge member 130 that joins two bulbs 18 toprovide a one-piece seal that is particularly useful in the sealing ofslide out rooms used in recreational vehicles, and FIG. 15, shows howbridge seal 134 is installed for such a purpose. Bridge seal 134includes substantially the same construction on either side of bridgemember 130. The construction of bridge seal 134 can generally be of thesame construction as that described earlier regarding the structure ofseal 10 except such construction is reproduced in a symmetricalrelationship on either side of a midpoint of bridge member 130. On oneside of bridge member 130, bridge seal 134 may include base 12 that hasa first offsetting member 14 extending from it to form an L-shape. Thebase 12 is a relatively high durometer material compared to the rest ofthe seal, and while resilient to some degree it is substantially lessflexible than other parts of bridge seal 134. In one embodiment, base 12is made of a material of approximately 90 shore A.

As further shown in FIG. 13, first offsetting member 14 extendsperpendicularly from the base 12 toward a bulb portion 18. The bulbportion 18 has a second offsetting member 20 that extends toward thefirst offsetting member 14 and is integrally joined with it. The firstand second offsetting members' combined length span the distance betweenthe base 12 and bulb portion 18. The bulb portion 18 is made of amaterial that is a lower durometer than the base 12. In one embodiment,bulb portion 18 and its second offsetting member 20 are made of amaterial that is approximately 35 shore A. The bulb portion may have ashape similar to that described above regarding seal 10.

Bridge seal 134 may also include wipers 44 extending co-linearly fromthe base 12 and integrally joined at a proximal end 46. A distal end 49is cantilevered with respect to the proximal end 46. Wipers 44 may alsoinclude a flared tip 50. It is also contemplated that the lateral sidesof wipers 44 may in some cases not be parallel if non-uniform crosssections are desired. Bridge seal 134 may include variations in theshape of wipers 44 as previously described and shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.As seen in FIG. 13, flared tips 50 are wider than the rest of wipers 44and have arcs that transition into opposing corners that define themaximum width of the flared tip 50. FIG. 9 shows one embodiment of thecorners of flared tips 50 in detail. Wipers 44 can be made of a lowerdurometer material than that of the base 12. In one embodiment wiper 44material is approximately 35 shore A hardness. As such, even though thewiper 44 and base 12 have roughly the same thickness, the wiper 44 issubstantially more flexible than the base 12. The different durometermaterials as previously described can also be used in the similarportions of bridge seal 134.

Bridge seal 134 can be coextruded so the transitions between materialsare integrally joined. The locations of the lower and higher durometermaterials are placed to provide predictable bending of the bridge seal134. The offsetting members 14, 20 provide a combined distance allowingfor the bulb portion 18 to have a first position where the inner wall ofbulb 18 is spaced parallel to the base 12. The resiliency of theoffsetting members 14, 20 bias the cantilevered bulb portion 18 into thefirst position. The offsetting members 14, 20 provide predictablebending that allows the bulb portion 18 to be bent into a secondposition exposing an outer surface of base 12. The second offsettingmember 20 being of a softer durometer yields to provide a bendable hingewhile the first offsetting member 14 does not move. The singleconnection to the bulb portion 18 to the base through the offsettingmembers 14, 20 provides a sufficient gap between the inner wall 32 andbase 12 to accommodate fasteners that may be driven through the base 12.

As can also be seen in FIG. 13, bridge seal 134 may include one or moreribs 132. Rib 132 is a raised member that runs along the length ofbridge seal 134 on the inner surface of base 12 opposite bulb portion18. Rib 132 is raised and provides additional sealing surface area inthe event that adhesive tape or other connection materials are used onthe inner surface of base 12. In one embodiment, two rows of ribs 132are provided on both first and second bases 12. Other quantities andshapes of ribs 132 can also be used. Rib 132 can have a curved circularprofile as shown or can be configured as a fin, with a triangularcross-section or other suitable shape.

Where locating leg 58 extended perpendicularly with respect to the base12 in the embodiments of seal 10 previously described, bridge seal 134includes bridge member 130 connecting two symmetrical bulb, base andwiper portions. In one embodiment, bridge member 130 is made from thesame durometer material as the base. As shown in FIG. 13 bridge member130 is in its first position, perpendicular to the bases 12. Bridgemember 130 has a hinge on each end near its points of connection towipers 44 and bases 12. The points of connection of bridge member 130include a hinge 60 that consists of a thinned section 62 that is on thesame side of the bridge member 130 as the wiper 44. A second position ofbridge member 130 is shown in FIG. 14. In the second position, bridgemember 130 rotates about hinges 60 and bridge member moves to positioncloser to being parallel to wipers 44. Bridge member 130 rotates througha position in which it is oblique to each of the bases and permits eachbase to move in a lateral direction such that that are closer together.In this way, the wipers, bulb and base of each symmetrical sealingportion move closer to each other as shown. As can be appreciated, thisposition enables bridge seal 134 to be rolled, packaged or shipped moreefficiently. The highest durometer portions of bridge seal 134, beingthe base 12 and bridge member 130, are nearly aligned. This provides avery low moment of inertia with respect to the high durometer portionsof the bridge seal 134 so that it may be easily bent about a neutralaxis. Because of the shape of the bridge seal 134 in its secondposition, it can be more easily coiled so that desired lengths may becut from a much larger roll of bridge seal 134.

Installation of the bridge seal 134 in its intended use is shown in FIG.15. Wall 70 is a typical recreational vehicle sidewall that receives aslide out room that is not shown. The wall 70 has a thickness D1 thatcan vary between different manufacturers or different models ofrecreational vehicles. The wipers 44 extend inwardly into the opening 71and rub against a sidewall of the slide out room to form a seal. Theopening 71 includes a transverse surface that extends between an innersurface 75 and an outer surface 77. Because of the high friction thatmay be encountered on the wipers 44, an anti-friction coating may beapplied to the surface near the flared tips 50. The coating is between0.002 and 0.010 inches and has a durometer of 40-90 shore D. The coatingis a thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) that has flexibility in spite ofits hardness. Other suitable anti-friction coatings can also be used.This will allow the corners 48 of the tip 50 to conform to the sidewallof the slide out room and be resistant to abrasion. In addition toproviding a low friction surface, the coating provides a surface thatwill not adhere to the surfaces it contacts. This is an importantproperty for the arcuate portions of the bulb portions 18 because theflanges of the slide out room will be compressed against the arcuateportions of bulb portions 18 when the slide out room is extended orrefracted. During times of extreme heat this could cause lower durometermaterials to stick to a flange on the slide out and the coating preventsadhesion of the bulb portions 18 to the flanges.

Installation of the bridge seal 134 is accomplished using similarmethods as previously described. One method is using adhesive tape 74 tosecure bridge seal 134 in place. In this embodiment, since bridge seal134 is only one piece, only one piece of bridge seal 134 is installedinto the opening 71 with bridge member 130 spanning the distance orwidth of wall 70. The double sided adhesive tape strips 74 can be placedon various surfaces of bridge seal 134 such as on bases 12 or bridgemember 130 to hold bridge seal in place as shown in FIG. 15.Additionally, screws may be driven through the base 12 into wall 70 foradditional security in retaining the bridge seal 134 in its desiredlocation. This is done by bending the bulb portion 18 to its secondposition and then letting the bulb portion 18 snap back into its firstposition. This will conceal screws driven into the base 12. As FIG. 15shows, bridge seal 134 forms a system of sealing that provides twowipers 44, which then form a watertight connection to the wall 70 onboth sides as well as a watertight connection between bridge member 130.Bridge member 130 can have different lengths to accommodate differentwall thicknesses D1.

The present invention is not limited to the details given above, but maybe modified within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An elongate seal comprising: a first base; asecond base; and a bridge member comprising a substantially rigid bodyextending between a first integrally formed hinge connected to saidfirst base and a second integrally formed hinge connected to said secondbase, said body of said bridge member being movable between a firstposition wherein said body is substantially perpendicular to said firstbase and said second base and a second position wherein said body isoblique to said first base and said second base whereby a lateraldistance between said first base and said second base is reduced.
 2. Theelongate seal as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a first bulbportion connected to the first base and a second bulb portion connectedto the second base.
 3. The elongate seal as claimed in claim 2 furthercomprising a first wiper extending co-linearly from one end of saidfirst base and a second wiper extending co-linearly from said secondbase.
 4. The elongate seal as claimed in claim 3 further comprising afirst bulb hinge located at the connection of said first bulb portion tosaid first base and a second bulb hinge located at the connection ofsaid second bulb portion to said second base.
 5. An elongate sealcomprising: a first base; a second base being substantially parallel tosaid first base; and a bridge member comprising: a first hinge adjacentwith and connected to said first base; a second hinge adjacent with andconnected to said second base; a body portion extending between andintegrally formed with said first hinge and said second hinge, whereinsaid body portion is substantially inflexible; wherein, by bending saidbridge portion at only said first hinge and second hinge, said bodyportion is movable between a first position in which said body portionis perpendicular to said first base and said second base and said firstbase and said second base are separated by a first lateral distance anda second position in which said body portion is parallel to said firstbase and said second base and said first base and said second base areseparated by a second lateral distance, wherein said first lateraldistance is greater than said second lateral distance.